Bhubaneswar: In order to promote electric vehicles (EVs) in the state, the government is planning to impose pollution cess of 25 paise per litre of diesel sold.
The plan has been mentioned in the draft Electric Vehicle Policy 2020, which is now in the discussion stage. The government is set to offer various incentives to EV buyers and manufacturers. It will establish a dedicated fund to facilitate these incentives.
As per the draft policy, the cess will later be imposed on all internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
On similar lines, the government is mulling an additional road tax on diesel and petrol vehicles, especially on luxurious cars. The additional tax will be based on a sliding scale with high price diesel vehicles paying the highest additional road tax and low price two wheelers incurring a small addition.
Further, the government has planned to levy appropriate congestion fee on all trips originating and terminating from different places in Odisha and also from car aggregators. This tax will be waived for e-vehicles. The gap left after funding from the above sources will be met through budgetary allocation.
The transport department will be the nodal agency to implement the policy while a dedicated EV Cell will be formed in the department to monitor it.
Under the policy, the government is planning 100 per cent exemption of road tax and registration fees on EVs purchased within Odisha.
The government will provide 15 per cent subsidy — a maximum of `5,000 for two-wheeler,`12,000 for three-wheeler, and`one lakh for four-wheeler — on the base price.
State government employees can avail 100 per cent interest-free loans for purchasing EVs in the state.
Government departments/offices and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) will prefer EVs for official use, the draft said. Municipal authorities will be asked to provide subsidised parking for all personal EVs in their respective jurisdiction.
The government has also decided to incentivize new small and micro EV battery manufacturing units. All such units will get 25 per cent of capital investment made in plant & machinery subject to an upper limit of `1 crore.
As charging point is necessary for plying of such vehicles in the state, the government decided to provide grant upto `5000 for set up of first 20,000 such points.
Notably, a State-level Task Force headed by chief secretary and Steering Committee led by Transport secretary will be formed for effective implementation of the policy. The draft policy will be finalised soon and notified, sources said.
Nearly 82 per cent of all new vehicles registered in the state comprise two wheelers. It is the most popular segment of vehicles which contribute a major part in air pollution.
Similarly, three wheelers numbers constitute 3.06 per cent and cars (light motor vehicles) make up 7.04 per cent of total registered vehicles in the state.
PNN